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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919882">Secrets Kept, Secrets Shared</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_real_cactus_betty/pseuds/the_real_cactus_betty'>the_real_cactus_betty</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Veronica Mars (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Mutual Pining, Pre-Season/Series 01, Secret Relationship, VMTAP20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:15:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,161</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_real_cactus_betty/pseuds/the_real_cactus_betty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Saturday nights were sleepover nights at the Kane mansion.<br/>Logan and Veronica chance upon each other in the hallways, night after night.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Secrets Kept, Secrets Shared</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>Cover Credit: Alina @veronicamarsfanart</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> A big shout out to Aurora2020 for her encouragement and Beta work! Thank you! </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>If you want to hear the Podfic version of this by the fabulous AmyPC - <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26263093">Click here</a></strong>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>Saturday Night</b>
</p><p> </p><p>It was a Saturday night tradition, sleepovers at the Kane mansion.</p><p>Veronica walked down the wide hallway and was startled when Logan exited Duncan’s bedroom. He stepped into the hall, saw her, then closed the door behind him.</p><p>“Hallway lurking Veronica?”</p><p>“Isn’t a girl allowed to go to the bathroom anymore?”</p><p>They walked together to the door. Logan gestured for her to enter.</p><p>“I’m going to brush my teeth,” Veronica inclined her head towards the bathroom.</p><p>“Cool, me too,” Logan answered. It wasn’t part of his immediate plans, but he was nothing if not flexible.</p><p>He followed her into the large bathroom, opened the cabinet and pulled out a toothbrush.</p><p>“Oh, do you live here now?” Veronica asked as she squeezed the green gel onto her bright pink brush.</p><p>“No, but staying here a few nights a week is a hell of a lot better than being home with Aaron Echolls,” he quipped back, stuffing the toothbrush into his mouth.</p><p>Veronica didn’t know how to respond to that statement, so she kept quiet, placing the toothbrush into her mouth delicately and brushing with her mouth closed. She couldn’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want to be at home in a sprawling mansion, with a movie-star for a Dad.</p><p>Logan pretended to look at himself in the mirror, running his free hand through his spiky hair, but he was really looking at her. Perfect in the mirror's reflection, she wore pajama pants and a spaghetti-strapped tank top with a unicorn on it, her long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. Logan wished he could touch it, he imagined it would be incredibly soft. Veronica Mars was almost an apparition to fourteen-year-old Logan, as far as he was concerned, she was perfection personified.</p><p>Veronica noticed his eyes on her, so he immediately bent over and spat into the sink as a distraction. She repeated the action, but covering her mouth so he couldn’t see her spit.</p><p>They weren’t really friends, they weren’t really <em>anything </em>. Happenstance meant they were best friends of siblings, which forced them into proximity. Sure, they went to school together and would sometimes run into each other after soccer games, but they rarely exchanged anything more than a few syllables.</p><p>After rinsing, both Logan and Veronica moved to exit the bathroom at the same time. This resulted in a comical arrangement involving limbs meeting and numerous offers of ‘you first’ ‘no, you’ only to then find themselves back in the doorway together again. Logan's bare arm grazed Veronica’s on at least two occasions.</p><p>Veronica flinched, wondering why her skin warmed and tingled where it had touched his.</p><p>They stopped and stood in the hall, awkwardly looking at each other, then back at the ground.</p><p>The Kane hallway was wide, with beige walls, high ceilings and polished marble floors. At the end of the passage, a large glass window allowed the blue glow from the pool to trickle inside, dancing its way to the cornices. </p><p>Veronica liked the way the dim light gave her the confidence to look up at him, when she normally would have shied away.</p><p>Logan wanted to keep her here, keep her with him. He racked his brain for something profound to say, “You have excellent technique,” finally thinking of something and instantly wishing he’d kept his mouth shut.</p><p>Veronica stared at him, eyebrows knitted in confusion.</p><p>“Teethbrushing.”</p><p>Her confusion didn’t seem to abate with his explanation. “Umm, okay. Thank you.” Veronica replied, wondering why on earth they were discussing dental hygiene. But she didn’t investigate the matter too closely, more than happy to just keep talking.</p><p>Logan ran his hands through his hair, and Veronica tucked her hair behind her ear. As soon as she did it she remembered that hair tucking was a textbook flirting move.</p><p>Was she flirting with Logan Echolls?</p><p>When Veronica looked up at him, she noticed a smudge of white toothpaste below Logan’s lower lip. Unconsciously she reached up and wiped it off with the pad of her thumb. Normally she would have just left it, ignored it altogether. But she wanted to touch him, to feel his skin under her fingertips, the reason for it was something she couldn’t entirely comprehend.</p><p>She assumed boys' skin would be rougher, but Logan’s was soft and warm. As she touched it, he made a sharp intake of breath, and Veronica involuntarily did too.</p><p>Yes, she was <em>definitely </em>flirting with Logan Echolls.</p><p>Logan stood in suspended animation, staring at Veronica's hand, his heart rate accelerating. Veronica dropped her hand quickly to her side, and a half-smile crept upon her face.</p><p>“Toothpaste,” she whispered.</p><p>Logan nodded, like that explained it, but really it explained nothing.</p><p>Veronica turned away, suddenly embarrassed that she’d been so bold with someone she barely knew.</p><p>“Back to sleepover pillow fights?” he quipped as they slowly started walking down the hallway back to their respective friend’s bedrooms.</p><p>Veronica shook her head sagely, “Pillow fights are penciled in for Thursdays,”</p><p>“After soccer practice?”</p><p>“Yep.” She continued to tease him.</p><p>“So, let me get this right, pillow fights … in soccer uniforms?” he asked, eyes wide. He knew she was teasing, but the vision still crossed his mind. He was going to put that one into the vault for later.</p><p>Veronica nodded.</p><p>“Right, well, I’ll see you Thursday night then,” Logan gave a cheeky thumbs-up as he stood by Duncan’s door. He knew he should just open it and just go inside, but he didn’t.</p><p>Veronica stopped and they stood in the hallway in silence. Veronica swayed back and forth on her bare feet and bit at her bottom lip.</p><p>Logan pushed his body back, flush against the door behind him. Palms open he touched it for stability, for safety, for reassurance. He needed a solid object to ground him, the tiny girl before him made his head spin.</p><p>“Well,” Veronica finally spoke, “Goodnight.”</p><p>“Goodnight,” Logan repeated and wrapped his hand around to the door handle, opening it and slipping inside.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>One week later – Saturday Night</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Logan’s ear pressed against the girls door silently, he tried to slow his breathing, not wanting to alert them to his presence. His eyes squeezed shut and he focused on the sounds inside.</p><p>He couldn’t stop thinking about Veronica. Each time he picked up his toothbrush his thoughts swam with visions of their brief interlude. He was equal measures horrified and delighted at what had transpired. Embarrassed by his terrible conversational skills and delighted to have just been able to spend a few moments with her alone.</p><p>“Why don’t you kiss the poster? It’s Nick Carter. He won’t mind at all. Millions of girls, the world over practice with at least one Backstreet Boy,” Lilly’s voice sounded as if it was moving around the room. “I’ve done it.”</p><p>“Oh my God, Lilly, I’m NOT kissing a poster. I will just wait until a real <em> human </em> wants to kiss me back.” Veronica replied, and Logan’s breath hitched.</p><p>Girls are so weird, he thought. You don’t need to practice; you just do it. Any guy would be stupid to refuse.</p><p>He certainly wouldn’t.</p><p>“I can go across the hall and get Duncan right now,” Lilly teased Veronica.</p><p>“No!” Veronica shrieked.</p><p>Duncan, of course. Lilly had deemed them star-crossed soulmates recently. Even if Veronica wanted to refuse the set-up, she would be hard-pressed to fight Lilly. Based on Logan’s recent conversations with Duncan, he was pretty sure that Duncan would heartily approve of the match.</p><p>Logan leaned a little too close to the door and it creaked. He froze, hoping the girls didn’t hear.</p><p>Veronica did.</p><p>“I’m going to the bathroom,” Veronica’s voice spoke a little louder than before.</p><p>Logan panicked and backed away from the door as fast as possible.</p><p>“Fine, go kiss Duncan, whatever.” Lilly threw over her shoulder as Veronica walked past, opened the door slowly and peeked out into the hall.</p><p>Logan was retreating away from the girl’s room and Veronica smiled despite her anger at his snooping when she saw him.</p><p>“Hey!” she called out, “That better not have been the sound of your ear pressed against the door?”</p><p>He pointed to himself, looking around the empty hallway, “Who, me?”</p><p>Veronica shot him a deadpan look, eyebrows raised.</p><p>Logan shook his head, “Nope.”</p><p>“I heard a noise.”</p><p>“Wasn’t me. Maybe you heard a ghost?” he looked around, animatedly searching for an apparition.</p><p>“If it <em> was </em> a ghost, it had better not have been listening in to girl’s private conversations.”</p><p>“I’m sure the ghost definitely didn’t listen to you talking about kissing.” He shook his head and continued, “Nope. I bet he didn’t hear that you haven’t been kissed before, and he didn’t hear Lilly trying to get you to kiss a Backstreet Boy, or <em> Duncan </em>… “ he flinched reflexively, he saw it in her eyes, he knew what was coming.</p><p>Veronica’s mouth opened wide and she leaned forward and punched his arm. Logan feigned injury and rubbed at the spot. Veronica was mildly horrified thinking about what he’d heard and wished that she could slink away, but didn’t.</p><p>Something was keeping her standing there with Logan and she just wasn’t sure what it was yet.</p><p>“It’s not that big of a deal, you’re only fourteen,” he brushed the issue away, trying to keep her here, sensing her unease at the conversation.</p><p>Veronica had never kissed anyone before, except for in Elementary school, and she was pretty sure kissing Scottie Walsh under the monkey bars in first grade didn’t count.</p><p>“Lilly thinks that Duncan and I should be together,” She whispered the word Lilly so her friend’s supersonic hearing didn’t pick up on it. For some reason, she also wanted Logan’s thoughts on <em> Duncan and her. </em></p><p>Logan’s eyebrows raised, and he looked into her eyes.</p><p><em> No, please not Duncan. </em> </p><p>He moved toward her, ever so slightly. “Is that what you want, your first kiss to be with Duncan?” Logan asked, it was a question, but it seemed more like a challenge.</p><p>Even Veronica had to admit that sometimes Lilly’s thoughts, Lilly’s will, had a way of becoming hers.</p><p>Veronica shrugged, “I guess so.” She briefly pondered what it was she <em>actually </em>wanted, then pushed it to the back of her mind.</p><p>“Wow, lucky guy, just what every boy wants to hear,” he mimicked her shrug.</p><p>“It’s not like Neptune Middle School is swimming with kissable candidates, or any 09ers would be interested in me.”</p><p>Logan raised his eyes to hers skeptically before whispering, “Any human male would sell their soul to kiss you, Veronica Mars.”</p><p>Veronica tried to ignore his comment and ran her gaze briefly up and down the boy before her, wearing oversized cargo shorts and an orange t-shirt. Something had changed in Logan this year, he was taller, less gangly. His hair was cut, his braces were off and something in his demeanor around her changed. She’d deduced that it must have just been hormones, both his and her own, that accounted for this general shift between them. Something about him made her insides twist when he looked at her, and surely that couldn’t be a good thing.</p><p>Duncan never made her insides twist, so naturally, he felt like a safe option. A good first boyfriend.</p><p>Logan was certainly not that.</p><p>“I bet <em> you’ve </em> kissed plenty of girls?”</p><p>Logan casually replied, “A few.”</p><p>That was a lie. The truth was, he’d never kissed anyone, not yet.</p><p>“As I said, it’s not a big deal.”</p><p>“Everyone makes it into a big deal,” Veronica replied, hugging herself. Still wholly unsure why she was still standing there, having this awkward conversation in the hallway with her best friend’s brother’s friend.</p><p>The feelings he’d experienced last week resurfaced, his dark brown eyes locked with hers and he started to feel <em>things. </em></p><p>It appeared they had suddenly developed the capacity to have a conversation with a look. Words passed between eyes. Words that Veronica wasn’t sure she was ready to hear.</p><p>Veronica’s heart started thumping in her veins, she could feel it in her neck, hear its vibration pounding in her ears. Surely Logan could hear it too? She crossed her arms and held on tight, trying to hold up some kind of guise that she was relaxed, that this boy didn’t have this effect on her just with his eyes.</p><p>Logan’s hand reached up and touched Veronica’s arm, just below her shoulder. She thought it was supposed to be reassuring and comforting to make her forget about her worries.</p><p>It was anything but.</p><p>Veronica’s skin immediately tingled from the touch and her face flushed, she wished he would do it again. What <em>is </em>that feeling, she wondered? It was just a friendly touch, it was not supposed to send her spiraling. </p><p>Embarrassed, she decided it was time to go, she gave him a half-wave and turned back towards Lilly’s door.  </p><p>Logan’s hand reached out, stopping her, taking her hand in his, gently tugging her back.</p><p>He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t let her leave.  </p><p>Veronica stopped in her tracks and looked down at the hand holding her own. Warm fingers squeezed hers reassuringly and she moved to stand before him.  His head inclined infinitesimally in Veronica’s direction.</p><p>Logan summoned all his courage, was he really going to do this? If his dreams were anything to go by, it would be intense. </p><p>She seemed to sense his thoughts and stepped back.</p><p>“Veronica,” he whispered low, calling to her, coaxing her back. She liked him saying her name that way. It was gravely and sexy, and sexiness was not a term she’d ever used in conjunction with Logan Echolls before.</p><p>But somehow, it fit.</p><p>He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Veronica’s senses were invaded with Logan; his scent, the warmth of his hand, the timbre of his voice, his eyes locking with hers. There was only one sense left to explore, taste.</p><p>There was a distinctive shift in the air, and Veronica knew he was about to kiss her.</p><p>She had no intention of stopping him.</p><p>Logan Echolls was going to be her first kiss.</p><p>Tentative and tender, Logan leaned forward and placed his lips on hers, firm and soft. It lasted only seconds, but it seemed to draw all the oxygen from the hallway, leaving them both breathless.</p><p>The face staring back at her seemed just as shocked as she was, as if the kiss also took him by surprise.</p><p>Hearts pounded in unison in the dark hallway, a gentle smile crept across both their lips.</p><p>It ignited something deep and low, a flame flickering in Veronica’s stomach. She wanted to kiss him again, but instead, they stood with arms by their sides and Veronica’s eyes still wide.</p><p>Logan pulled at his shirtsleeves with a slight smirk tickling the corner of his wet lips.</p><p>Veronica’s heart thrummed unstoppably.</p><p>She turned, ran, and burst back into Lilly’s room, slamming the door behind her.         </p><p>Lilly looked up at her, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she looked Veronica up and down, concerned by her odd expression, shaking hands and flushed cheeks.</p><p>Veronica shook her head and steadied herself, she’d certainly <em>felt </em>something that both frightened and excited her at the same time.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>One week later – Saturday Night</b>
</p><p>Veronica felt compelled back into the hallway.</p><p>She didn’t need to go to the bathroom, but she ventured out nonetheless. Walking slowly and lingering momentarily outside Duncan’s door, she could hear video games being played within. A shade of disappointment crossed her that maybe Logan wouldn’t come out tonight.</p><p>Veronica sat on the bathroom counter and picked at her fingernails for five minutes before closing the bathroom door a little more loudly than usual and making her slow trek down the hall.</p><p>No surprise visitors greeted her and she reluctantly opened Lilly’s door and re-entered.</p><p>She returned and plopped herself back onto the bed next to Lilly, who was thumbing her way through this week’s pile of magazines. She had her scissors at the ready, snipping out pictures of her latest boy-crushes. Cutouts of Orlando Bloom, Josh Hartnett and Usher littered the bed in piles, which Lilly then ranked in a scrapbook according to their ‘hotness’. Lilly took this very seriously and Veronica was tasked with pasting and general decoration with both scented <em>and </em>glitter pens.</p><p>Veronica thought she heard movement in the hallway and froze, mid glue.</p><p>“I’m going to the bathroom.”</p><p>“But you just went!” Lilly remarked, staring at Veronica, pointing the scissors at her questioningly.</p><p>“I’m going to brush my teeth and wash my face,” Veronica replied, collecting her toothbrush from her backpack and scurrying out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.</p><p>But there was no one there, just the pool’s glowing light echoing around an empty hallway.</p><p>Disappointed, Veronica figured she might as well do the things she told Lilly. She brushed her teeth slowly and scrubbed her face pink. Brushing her teeth alone wasn’t the same, it didn’t give her the tingles that floated through her stomach when Logan was there.</p><p>Veronica wanted to see Logan, to apologize. She didn’t mean to run; it was just adrenaline, her fight or flight response kicking in. She chose flight, and she’d regretted it for seven days.</p><p>She reluctantly returned back to Lilly’s room, walking as slowly as possible, hovering, before finally giving up and closing Lilly’s door behind her.</p><p> </p><p>Logan heard a door close and his eyes immediately lifted.</p><p>No, he wasn’t going out there, no matter how much he wanted to.</p><p>He’d considered not coming at all, abandoning the Saturday sleepover forever, running away like Veronica did after he dared to put his lips on hers. It all seemed easier than the fear of facing her again. But at the same time, the pull remained, as much as it seemed wrong and embarrassing he couldn’t stop thinking about the velvet of her lips and that <em>look </em>in her eyes.</p><p>Logan watched the television screen, steering his Porsche through the downtown streets of Los Angeles, speeding away from the police, but his mind was elsewhere. He was imagining Veronica’s petite form standing just outside, waiting for him.</p><p>He tried to focus on the game, chatting with Duncan absentmindedly, shoveling more Cheetos into his mouth. But his eyes continually kept flicking back to the door.</p><p>He placed his controller on the floor and stood up.</p><p>“Bathroom break,” he spoke to Duncan, who nodded, still glued to the screen.</p><p>Logan brushed the Cheeto crumbs off his shirt, bent over and took a mint from his bag, popped it into his mouth and slipped into the hallway.</p><p>Logan was following Veronica, like a trail of breadcrumbs.</p><p>The empty hallway seemed cold, shadows lingered, dormant, as if it was waiting for the spark of electricity that warmed its corners last Saturday.</p><p>He walked down it’s length down to the bathroom and back again. </p><p>She had been here, he could tell. It smelled of her, of marshmallows.</p><p>Logan strolled back, standing outside Lilly’s bedroom door listening to the muffled sounds of the girls giggling.</p><p>He took a deep breath, shoved his hands into his pockets and returned to Duncan’s room.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>One week Later – Saturday Night</b>
</p><p>She’d worn her cutest summer dress with purpose tonight and had briefly run into Logan when they descended into the kitchen to scrounge for some food.</p><p>He was shy and averted his gaze when she tried to make eye contact, instead focusing on his soda and Duncan. It was the same when they passed in school hallways, as if she was invisible. Veronica longed for the way he looked at her when they were alone, so open and honest, as if he couldn’t possibly look at anything else.</p><p>When the sun went down that Saturday, Veronica searched for him in the hallway numerous times, in vain.</p><p>Lilly was convinced at this point that Veronica had bowel problems and no longer questioned her regular bathroom breaks.  She went to bed bitterly disappointed, feeling a sense of sadness that something had ended, before it had even begun.</p><p>Veronica awoke at 2 am and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. On her return, she stopped as she noticed a silhouette in the darkness.</p><p>Anticipation raced through her body instantly and she tried to steady herself.</p><p>Veronica moved closer to the figure, standing in front of him. He stayed at a careful distance gazing at her. Veronica didn’t miss the way his eyes swept downwards, surveying her tiny pajamas, the way they lingered on her bare legs for just a second too long.</p><p>“Hello hallway friend,” Logan whispered, a smirk upon his lips.</p><p>Veronica smiled in the darkness, “Hi.”</p><p>“I’m glad I caught you, I wanted to see you, to say that I’m sorry, about last time, I didn’t mean to … you know,” he couldn’t bring himself to speak the word <em>kiss </em>.</p><p>“Were you waiting to ‘catch me’ in the hallway at 2 am to tell me that?” Veronica asked skeptically.</p><p>“No,” He replied, only a half-truth.</p><p>Logan had opened Duncan’s door slightly as he lay on the rollout bed, watching the crack for shadows or movement. He couldn’t sleep thinking that another night would pass without the opportunity for them to cross paths. When the movement finally came, he prayed it wasn’t Lilly. The gods answered.</p><p>“You don’t have to be sorry,” she spoke, quiet as a mouse, “I’m sorry I ran away.”</p><p>Logan moved closer to hear her, but also, just to be closer. Veronica rubbed her arms as if she was cold.</p><p>“I’m very happy to hear that Veronica,” Logan spoke in a voice deep and husky that did something to her insides. It crept through her ears, danced down her spine, tingling, fluttering all the way to her toes. She wiggled them and looked at him from under her eyelashes.</p><p>Boy, did she miss that feeling last week.</p><p>“I’m sorry if it was bad, I was unprepared,” Veronica spoke.</p><p>“Bad?” Logan scoffed and shook his head fervently. “There was <em> nothing </em> bad about it.” He reassured her and meant it wholeheartedly. It was three seconds that he’d relived in his head for the better part of two weeks.</p><p>Veronica replied with a shy smile, “Good.”</p><p>“Honestly, I can’t imagine what it would be like if you <em>were </em>prepared,” Logan rambled nervously. He wanted to keep talking about it, about their kiss. Talking about it made it real; it brought it from his memories into the present.</p><p>Veronica took a tentative step towards him. She couldn’t shake that feeling of disappointment she’d felt not meeting him in the hall last week, she didn’t want to feel it again.</p><p>Veronica mustered all her strength to whisper the words, “I’m prepared, <em> now. </em>”</p><p>Logan’s eyes grew wide, searching Veronica’s for clarification.</p><p>Did she say that?</p><p>Did she <em>mean </em>that?</p><p>Veronica smiled at his reaction and took another step toward him. Logan’s heartbeat increased with each inch she came closer.</p><p>“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Logan asked.</p><p>Veronica nodded.</p><p>Logan raised his hand and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, his body moved against Veronica’s, closing the space between them.</p><p>The first time she was shocked at their proximity. This time her body filled with something wholly unfamiliar. She didn’t just want him to kiss her, she <em>needed </em>him to kiss her.</p><p>Veronica leaned forward with determination, Logan's tongue peeked out and he licked his lips as she approached.</p><p>Their lips met, slowly, deliciously. Veronica tilted her head to the side and kissed him again softly before letting her tongue slip nervously into his mouth. It was what she knew from TV, all the best television couples kissed with tongue.</p><p>Logan's body stiffened momentarily with surprise. Then Veronica’s tongue dipped in again, desperate to taste him and was met willingly with his own. Logan tasted of toothpaste and heaven, and their tongues tentatively battled, testing each other.</p><p>Veronica slipped her hands into his hair, taking it in her fists, threading her fingers through it.</p><p>Shivers ran down Logan's spine and he pulled her closer again. His hands wrapped around her waist and he grazed his fingertips against the bare skin of her stomach.  He’d never felt anything like it before in his life, the softness, the warmth.</p><p>A sound emanated from Veronica’s throat reflexively. It was almost a purr, not quite a moan. It felt like each vein in her body would explode from the sudden rush of blood barreling through her at previously unknown speeds.</p><p>All of this; the feelings, the heat, the <em>want </em>directed at <em> Logan Echolls </em>.</p><p>Logan didn’t mind at all. He reveled in the feel of her lips on his, the sudden desire coursing through him. Veronica Mars was kissing <em>him </em>, willingly and desperately. He gently leaned against Veronica without breaking the kiss and her back made contact with the wall behind her.</p><p>Veronica loved the feel of the cold wall behind her and the crushing heat of Logan’s body before her.</p><p>Surely<em> this </em>was not kissing, she wondered? If people kissed like this all the time, how in the world would they ever pull away?</p><p>This was something else, something otherworldly.</p><p>Logan’s hands brushed across her neck, gently circling at the base of her skull, drawing her deeper to him somehow. His tongue continually sweeping, devouring her own.</p><p>Suddenly, the door behind them opened and Duncan walked out, padding down the hallway to the bathroom. They pulled apart abruptly. In the darkness it appeared that they were unseen, but they remained for a few moments, pupils dilated, breathing each other's air and Logan’s body still pressed against Veronicas.</p><p>The bathroom door closed and Logan bestowed a final soft kiss on Veronica’s lips. Disappointment flooded her as she realized this was over.</p><p>“Logan,” his name fell off her lips in a breathy moan, she didn’t even recognize her own voice. She was pleading with him, for what, she wasn’t sure.</p><p>He blinked twice as if to compose himself, “Goodnight,” he said, voice cracking. Logan released his hold on her and he walked away, reluctantly re-entering Duncan’s room. </p><p>Veronica stood in the hallway alone for a moment before slipping back into Lilly’s room and climbing under the sheets beside her best friend. Laying in the darkness, she tried in vain to steady her racing heart. Her fingers traveled to her bruised, flush lips, running her fingertips across them. A deep smile crossed her face, so wide it hurt.</p><p>Logan lay on the rollout bed, hands resting on his chest, still rising and falling rapidly. Duncan returned and climbed back under his blankets without a word. Logan covered his face with his arm, grinning, unbelieving of the heat that just transpired between Veronica Mars and himself in the hallway.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>Two years later – Saturday Night</b>
</p><p>It was the night of the Prom. Logan was wearing his Dad’s tuxedo and Veronica wore pale pink chiffon.</p><p>Lilly held a champagne glass in her hand, her gold dress sparkling even in the dull light of the limousine. “Okay, my turn,” she paused, shuffling back in her seat. “Logan.”</p><p>He lounged against the rear seat of the limo, legs splayed apart.</p><p>“What did you think of Veronica the first time you saw her?” Lilly asked. As soon as the words left Lilly’s lips, Veronica's insides curled, she forgot to breathe and focused on Duncan because she suddenly couldn’t look at Lilly or Logan.</p><p>Thump, thump, thump. Veronica’s heart pounded against her chest.</p><p>Without hesitation, Logan answered, but he was careful not to look directly at Veronica.</p><p>Too risky, he knew his eyes would give him away.</p><p>“I don’t know,” he mumbled, voice a little higher than usual, hands nervously running through his hair, “I thought she was hot.”</p><p>She can’t believe he said that out loud and bulked at his response with shock, “Ow, I was twelve when you moved here!” She felt brave enough to look at him, if only for a fleeting second.</p><p>“Oh, you were working it in your shorts and your knee socks.” Logan decided to go for honesty here. Lilly <em>knew </em>there was something there, between them, she’d mentioned it before. The last thing he could do was speak of anything that had transpired once upon a time in the halls of the Kane mansion.</p><p>So he settled with the truth, he <em>did </em>think Veronica was hot when he first met her.</p><p>Thankfully, Lilly didn’t ask her what he thought of her now.</p><p>Veronica leaned over and punched him, “That’s my soccer uniform!”</p><p>“Whatever, it totally worked,” he mumbled and immediately shifted the subject away from anything involving him and Veronica in the same sentence, “Okay, Lilly.”</p><p>“Dare,” She responded.</p><p>“Kiss someone in this limo,” he spoke.</p><p>Veronica blanched, why, why of all things did he need to bring up kissing? The blush was rising in her cheeks. Logan’s body was suddenly pressed against Veronicas, his suit against her, his arm on her arm as he leaned back dramatically, awaiting a kiss from his beautiful girlfriend.</p><p>They didn’t dare turn their heads to look at one another.</p><p>Veronica rolled her eyes and tried to cover her face. The last thing she needed was for those lovers to spend any more time locking lips, certainly not inches from her face. Of course, she knew how those lips tasted, how soft they were, how his fingertips felt on her skin, grazing her stomach.</p><p>She didn’t live in that memory long, as Lilly pulled herself away from Logan’s waiting mouth and planted a kiss on her own.</p><p>Veronica mentally thanked Lilly for the ultimate distraction.</p><p>They laughed and teased and Logan launched at Duncan because he sprayed his suit with champagne, but in reality, he was deflecting. He needed to get out of the limo, away from Lilly, away from Veronica. He needed air, he needed her eyes off him. The girl’s brief kiss distracted him, but only momentarily.</p><p>Logan’s mind filled with images of hallways, of lips, of secrets. As his feet hit the sand and he wrestled with Duncan, he hoped that no-one could see that first kiss lurking in his eyes.</p><p>Because he’s never told a soul about those nights in the dark hallway with a tiny beautiful girl. He locked them away inside, somewhere deep, somewhere he could pull the memories out in private and savor them.</p><p>When Logan and Duncan finally stumbled back into the limo. Lilly wrapped her arms around Logan’s, pulling him toward her possessively as he fell back against the seat.</p><p>For a fleeting moment in time, brown eyes met blue.</p><p>A two-second glance, invisible to others, lingered between them and a shadow of a smirk teased at the corner of Logan’s lips.</p><p>An unspoken acknowledgment of a secret kept, a secret shared.</p><p> </p>
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